Ring holder



June 18, 1963 M. D. TETREAULT RING HOLDER Filed June 8. 1960 FIG. I.

INVENTOR. MERRITT D. TETREAULT I f AW/Z44, hi5 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,093,957 RING HOLDER Merritt D. Tetreault, East Douglas, Mass, assignor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 8, 1960, Ser. No. 34,740 2 Claims. (Cl. 57-122) This invention relates to apparatus for holding rings, such as spinning or twisting rings, in the ring rail of the machine in which the rings are to be used and embodies, more specifically, mechanism by means of which such rings may be conveniently installed and removed from their operating positions and, at the same time, maintained effectively in such positions during operation of the machine.

Holders for securing rings in machines such as abovementioned have heretofore been provided of metal and are illustrated, for example, in the patent to. Stuart No. 2,273,387. In these presently existing holders, there is provided a spring in the form of a split resilient ring which may be snapped on or off the ring holder in order to secure it in its operative position in the ring rail. The difliculty of removing such springs in order to permit the ring holder and ring to be removed and to permit replacement of the ring will be readily apparent, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ring holder of improved structure by means of which the holder may be conveniently and effectively secured in its operating position, as well as to enable it to be removed therefrom and replaced at will.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a ring holder of the above character in which the normal resiliency of the body of the holder mechanism itself is utilized to maintain the holder effectively in its operating position and yet to permit it to be removed therefrom without difliculty.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by providing a ring holder of yielding non-metallic material having a natural resiliency such that it may be pressed or snapped into its operating position and, by virtue of the resiliency of the material of the holder, maintained eflectively in such position until its removal is desired.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent as it is described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the ring rail of a machine in which rings are utilized;

FIG. 2 is a view in vertical elevation, taken in section on the plane indicated by the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 3 is a partial view similar to FIG. 2 and showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the above drawings, a portion of a ring rail of a spinning or twisting machine is illustrated at and, in accordance with standard practice, provided with a plurality of apertures 11 in which ring 12 are adapted to be secured. The structure of these rings is well-known, being alluded to, for example, in the aforesaid patent to Stuart No. 2,273,387, and need not be further described herein. It is suflicient to state that these rings are pro vided with at least one flange 13. In the form of ring illustrated in the drawings, the ring is provided with inner and outer flanges at both the top and bottom thereof although, for the purposes of this invention, consideration will only be given to the outer bottom flange 13.

In order that the ring 12 may be secured within the aperture 11 of the ring rail 10, a ring holder 14 is provided in the form of an annular member that is formed of a material that is resilient and non-metallic. It is provided with a split 15 in order that the flange 13 may be ice received within a lipped groove 16 that is formed within the inner periphery of the annular member 14.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the ring 12 is inserted into the holder 14 by spreading the holder somewhat at its split 15 so that the flange 13 may be snapped or inserted into the groove 16. The natural resiliency of the material of the annular member 14 will cause the latter to return to its normal position substantially as illustrated in FIG. 2, thus to hold the ring 12 in the position illustrated.

Beneath the plane of the groove 16, the holder is provided with a ring holder rail seat 17 that is adapted to be held securely against the upper surface of the rail 10-. Beneath the rail seat 17, the ring holder is formed with a downwardly extending annular flange 18 having a relief groove 19 and an outwardly tapering locking surface 20. The surface 20 terminates in a rib or edge 21 that is larger than the diameter of the aperture 11 and, therefore, because the relief groove 19 is smaller than the thickness of the rail 10, the sloping surface 20 urges the ring holder rail seat 17 into its normal position as illustrated in FIG. 2. Beneath the rib 21, the: outer surface 22 of the flange 18 slopes inwardly to a point 23 which is a starting diameter for the ring holder that is less than the diameter of the aperture 11.

As will be clearly seen from FIG. 2, after the ring 12 is inserted with its flange 13 in the groove 16, the ring holder may be pressed downwardly into the aperture 11 until the edge 21 snaps over the lower edge of the aperture 11. The natural resiliency of the material of the holder 14 causes the forces within the holder not only to hold the ring within the holder, but to maintain the holder within the ring rail section 10. There is a strong compressive force existing within the holder and by reason of the aperture 11 in the ring rail 10 that is contrary to and opposes the holding or expansive force of the ring 12 in the groove 16. These forces provide ample holding power for the entire assembly and enable the assembly easily to be removed from the rail or to be applied thereto. It will be observed that the forces above-mentioned lie in different planes, that is, the expansive force of the ring 12 is outwardly in a plane somewhat above the plane of the compressive forces that are applied by the aperture 11.

In practice it has been found that the ring holder mechanism is highly effective when it is made from a plastic material such as Derlin, a plastic now commonly available on the market and susceptible of being molded in the desired shape.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3, the ring holder 14 is provided with a downwardly extending annular flange 24 that is provided with a relief groove 25 and a compression contact surface 26 that is adapted to engage against the inner periphery of the aperture 11. Beneath the contact surface or seat 26, the flange 24 slopes downwardly at 27 and terminates in an edge 28 that is of a diameter substantially less than the di ameter of the aperture 11. In this form of the invention, the ring holder and ring are merely pushed downwardly into their operating position, as illustrated in FIG. 3. In this structure, the compressive force Within the flange 24 is relied upon to maintain the holder in its operative position whereas, in the device shown in FIG. 2, the edge 21 and sloping surface 20 provide a holddown locking action that urges the ring holder rail seat against the rail.

While the invention has been described with reference to the specific structure shown in the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited save as described in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for holding a ring in a ring rail having two oppositely-facing outer surfaces and means defining a ringholder-receiving aperture, comprising an integral annular member made of a resilient nonmetallic material and having (a) a split formed therein, (b) a groove in its inner periphery for tightly engaging a'flange on a ring to be held in said 'ringrail,

(c) a rail seat on its outer periphery for tightly engagingone of said two surfaces of said ring rail,

(d) a-relief groove in its outer periphery adjacent to said rail seat, lying within said aperture in said-ring rail, and spaced'apart from said aperture-defining means, and

(e) 'ahearing surface on its outer periphery adjacent-to said relief groove on the side thereof opposite said rail seat for tightly engaging said ring rail.

2. Means for holding a ring in a ring rail having two oppositely-facing outer surfaces and means defining a ringholder-receiving aperture, said aperture-defining means forming junctures with said surfaces, comprising an integral annular member formed about an axis and of a resilient nonmetallic material and having (a) a split formed therein,

(b) a groove in its inner periphery for tightly enrail,

(c) a rail seat on its outer periphery for tightly engaging one of said two surfaces of said ring rail,

(d) a relief groove in its outer periphery adjacent to said rail seat, lying within said aperture in said ring rail, and spaced apart from said aperture-defining means,

(e) a generally frusto-conical surface on its 'outer periphery adjacent to said relief groove on the side thereof opposite said rail seat, said frustoconical surface (i) tapering away from said axis and from said one of said two surfaces of said ring rail for tightly engaging said ring rail at the juncture of the second of said two surfaces of said ring rail with said aperture-defining means and' (ii) terminating beyond said second surface of said ring rail in a rib having a greater diameter than that of said aperture, and

(f) a generally frusto-conical surface on its outer I periphery tapering from said rib towards said axis and away from said two surfaces and terminating in an edge having a diameter less than that of said aperture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,032,077 Morse July 9, 1912 2,273,387 Stuart Feb. 17, 1942 2,454,707 Meyers et al Nov. 23, 1948 

2. MEANS FOR HOLDING A RING IN A RING RAIL HAVING TWO OPPOSITELY-FACING OUTER SURFACES AND MEANS DEFINING A RINGHOLDER-RECEIVING APERTURE, SAID APERTURE-DEFINING MEANS FORMING JUNCTURES WITH SAID SURFACES, COMPRISING AN INTEGRAL ANNULAR MEMBER FORMED ABOUT AN AXIS AND OF A RESILIENT NONMETALLIC MATERIAL AND HAVING (A) A SPLIT FORMED THEREIN, (B) A GROOVE IN ITS INNER PERIPHERY FOR TIGHTLY ENGAGING A FLANGE ON A RING TO BE HELD IN SAID RING RAIL, (C) A RAIL SEAT ON ITS OUTER PERIPHERY FOR TIGHTLY ENGAGING ONE OF SAID TWO SURFACES OF SAID RING RAIL, (D) A RELIEF GROOVE IN ITS OUTER PERIPHERY ADJACENT TO SAID RAIL SEAT, LYING WITHIN SAID APERTURE IN SAID RING RAIL, AND SPACED APART FROM SAID APERTURE-DEFINING MEANS, (E) A GENERALLY FRUSTO-CONICAL SURFACE ON ITS OUTER PERIPHERY ADJACENT TO SAID RELIEF GROOVE ON THE SIDE THEREOF OPPOSITE SAID RAIL SEAT, SAID FRUSTOCONICAL SURFACE (I) TAPERING AWAY FROM SAID AXIS AND FROM SAID ONE OF SAID TWO SURFACES OF SAID RING RAIL FOR TIGHTLY ENGAGING SAID RING RAIL AT THE JUNCTION OF THE SECOND OF SAID TWO SURFACES OF SAID RING RAIL WITH SAID APERTURE-DEFINING MEANS AND (II) TERMINATING BEYOND SAID SECOND SURFACE OF SAID RING RAIL IN A RIB HAVING A GREATER DIAMETER THAN THAT OF SAID APERTURE, AND (F) A GENERALLY FRUSTO-CONICAL SURFACE ON ITS OUTER PERIPHERY TAPERING FROM SAID RIB TOWARDS SAID AXIS AND AWAY FROM SAID TWO SURFACES AND TERMINATING IN AN EDGE HAVING A DIAMETER LESS THAN THAT OF SAID APERTURE. 